This blog is about spiritual awakening, maps and stages, the blinding effects of our strong momentum/conditioning (karmic propensities), view, realization, experience, etc. If you're new here, I recommend going through the 'Must Reads' articles (see sidebar). For discussions you are welcome to join the Awakening to Reality Facebook group

"Sometimes I wonder why must the topic frequently oscillate between emptiness and preserving an indestructible essence.

Perhaps after experiencing the boundless brilliance, the aliveness, we feel deep down we must somehow exist in a true, solid and substantial way. The more we experience our radiance clarity, the more difficult for us to let go. This I understand. Maybe we should channel some bits of our time and energy towards understanding the relationship between compassion and emptiness.

When watching Garchen Rinpoche movie that Piotr sent me, it seems that to Garchen Rinpoche, nothing matters more than sentient beings. Whether there “is or isn’t” an essence seems to be a non-issue; if there is, he would joyfully and generously sacrifice for the benefits of sentient beings when needed. This is what I gathered from the movie.

I am beginning to see why Nagarjuna asserted that emptiness is the womb of compassion.

I am beginning to understand without the awakening of Bodhichitta, there is no true realization of emptiness.

I am beginning to see why Bodhichitta and wisdom are the causes of Buddhahood.

May Bodhichitta be awakened in our authentic mindstreams.

Homage to Bodhichitta." February 16 at 6:31pm · Edited · Unlike · 10

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I highly recommend this video:

Viorica Doina Neacsu

Because this documentary it is so deeply touching and is presenting such beautiful glimpses of Milapera's wisdom, i thought to make a post with the link for this movie hoping that you will find the time to enjoy watching "The Extraordinary Life of Garchen Triptrul Rinpoche".

Thank you so much Piotr Ludwiński and Marta Wrona for your precious gift!

Spontaneous Teaching on the Ten Perfections

When this body dies, my mind has not died.I will continue to remain, pervading the five elements.

Apart from giving up self-grasping,there is no other perfection of generosity.

Apart from giving up deception,there is no other perfection of morality.

Apart from being fearless of the ultimate truth,there is no other perfection of patience.

Apart from being inseparable from practice,there is no other perfection of diligence.

Apart from abiding within the natural state,there is no other perfection of meditative concentraction.

Apart from realizing the nature of mind,there is no other perfection of wisdom.

Apart from practicing virtue in whatever you do,there is no other perfection of skillful means.

Apart from defeating the four maras,there is no other perfection of power.

Apart from giving up afflictions through the power of awareness,there is no other perfection of primordial awareness.

Son, rest within non-conceptuality.

In non-conceptual Shamatha meditation, there are no thoughts.However, an absence of thoughts is not desired.

'Rest within non-conceptuality' means that no phenomenon within samsara and nirvana transcends Mahamudra.

Son, when you meditate on Mahamudra do not exert yourself in virtues of body and speech.

Son, do not grasp at the appearance of great signs and qualities.This is the source of Mara's prophecy.

Son, rest within a state free of hopes.

Son, rest within a state devoid of grasping at being great.When you realize the nature of mind, have no desire for clairvoyant powers.

When you actually realize the meaning of Mahamudra, you should not cling to the thought,"Oh, this is Mahamudra... Now I have realized it!"

You must free this fixation.

I supplicate Lord Milarepa, Laughing Vajra.

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This heart teaching was given by His Eminence Garchen Triptrul Rinpoche in response to a request for a teaching on the supreme yogi, Milarepa. It was given to a group of retreatants at the auspicious site of Milarepa's cave in Lapchi, Nepal, in 2007. Part of this is recorded on video in "For the Benefit of All Beings."

My final translation for some time.

Original text by 'One Thought Traveler'

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5b4d23f60102e1z1.html自相、共相、无相、心相——解此四步法，从众生到佛Self-Form, Common-Form, No-Form, Mind-Form – Understanding these Four Step Dharmas, from Sentient Beings to Buddha(2012-06-16 06:47:03)问：为什么木有木相，火有火相，水……山河大地万物各自形态？佛陀看世界难道只是“一”？Question: Why does wood have wood-form, fire has fire-form, water... mountains, rivers, the great earth and the ten thousand phenomena each have its own form? Could it be that Buddha sees the world as only “One”?木自身没有形象，火自身没有形 象，水也自身没有形象，山河大地，一切万物，自身无相，相是众缘合和而有。譬如红花，我们总认为，不看花时，花仍是红的，花还是那种形象，花还是花。事实 上，这是众生的一种坚固妄想！花呈红色，因光、因明、因眼、因识，因众生无始来妄习业力等众缘和合，才有一“红色”。散掉这些因缘，也无红色也无花，甚至 也无看花的人。Wood itself does not have form, fire itself does not have form, water itself does not have form, mountains, rivers and the great earth, every ten thousand phenomena, in itself is without form, form/appearance is only present due to the aggregation of conditions. For example (with regards to) a red flower, we all think that when we are not looking at the flower, the flower is still red, the flower is of that shape/form, the flower is still a flower. In reality, this is a kind of firmly held delusional thinking of sentient beings! Flower assumes red colour due to light, due to brightness, due to eye, due to consciousness, due to sentient beings' beginningless habits of delusional thinking and karma, and other various conditions coming together, only then is there a “red colour”. When those causes and conditions have scattered away, there is also no red colour and no flower, so much so that there is not even the person that sees the flower.我们总以为事物是有属性的，事 物的属性归事物自身所有，并且固定不变，并非如此！诸佛经过深思观察，发现一切事物无相，相是心藉一切缘和合而生！世上并无单独的事物存在，一切事物是个 众缘假合，幻化而体，虚妄不实！一切事物并不是它看上去的样子，若能见到事物并不是它看上去的样子，将能看到真理。We always think that things have attributes, that the attributes of things belong to the things in themselves, and moreover are solid and changeless, but it is not so! All Buddhas having gone through deep contemplation, discovered that all things are without form, form is arising by means of mind and all conditions coming together! The world actually does not have independently existing things, all things are illusory coming together of various conditions, formed via magical change/transformation, are illusory without reality! All things are actually not what they would appear to be, if (one) can see that things are not as they seem, (one) will then be able to see the truth.譬如山谷里的风声，我们总是以 为，当风走过山谷，即使我们不倾听，那风声也存在，也有一“风声”这样的东西存在！并非如此：风声，因风、因空、因耳、因听、因识、因业等众缘相合才有一 “风声”存在，倘若去除诸缘中任何一缘，将无“风声”这一物。例如，如果没有我们的听和识别，那么风声仅仅是空气的波动，它没有声也没有音。For example, we always think that (with regards to) the sound of the wind in the valley, when the wind is passing through the valley, even if we did not listen for it, that sound of wind still exists, there still exists such a thing as “sound of wind”! It is actually not so: sound, is due to wind, due to space, due to ears, due to listening, due to consciousness, due to karma etc, many conditions meeting together, only then is there the presence of “sound of wind”, if we removed any one condition from all of those conditions, there shall not be such a phenomena as “sound of wind”. For example, if there were not our listening and conscious-discernment, then the sound of wind would purely be the fluctuation of wind movement, it would not have tone nor sound.因此，世间一切事物皆无自相； 其相，是以心为因，以诸法为缘，和合而成！我们以为事物有其自身的形象，并固定不变，是我们的坚固妄想。我们有证据：譬如红花，我们以为红花是红的，即使 我们不看时！为什么呢？理由是，我们下次再看时，它还是“红色”。由此我们推知，花朵一直是红的，红色是某一朵花的固定属性。此是妄见，非花实相！Therefore, every thing in the world are without self-form; its form, is due to mind as cause, due to various phenomena as conditions, formed through their meeting together (of causes and conditions)! We thought that things have their own image, that is fixed without changing, that is our firmly held delusional thinking. We have proof: for example with regards to red flower, we think that red flower is red, even if we do not see it! Why is that so? The reason is because, the next time we see it, it will still be “red”. Henceforth, we infer that flower has always been red, red color is a certain flower's fixed attribute. This is a delusional view, it is not flower's true nature!佛陀看世界难道只是“一”？我抬眼向这世界望去：看到柳是绿的，天空是蓝的，繁花是五颜六色的，风是凉的，火是红的，水是软柔的……一切万物表面上看去，与你所见不别！但我知道，法法不实，一切诸法有名有相，但皆幻化，无有实体！Could Buddha have seen the world as “One”? I lift my eyes to gaze at the world: sees that willow is green, sky is blue, many flowers are multicolored, wind is cool, fire is red, water is soft and flexible... all phenomena, looking from its surface, aren't different from what you have seen! However I do know, all dharmas are not real, all dharmas have its name and form, but are all changing magically/illusorily, and are without real substance!在我的眼中，既有诸法的自相， 也有诸法的共相，但我知道，彼皆无相，一切相是心相。相相如同梦见，都无自性！一切事物没有自相，也没有共相，一切事物是无相的。一切事物是无相的，为什 么看起来又各有形象呢？此是心相，心所赋予。一切事物的形象，是心造就的；心创造眼前事物之形象，与创造梦中之诸物，同等无异。只是众生忘了心最初是怎样 工作的，并坚执分别梦世界和此世界的不同，久而久之便有了对此世界的这种真实错觉。In my eyes, there is both the dharmas' self-form, and the dharmas' common-form, however I do know that all of those are without form, all forms are mental appearances. All forms are equivalent to dream visions, they are all without self-nature! All things are without self-form, and without common-form, all things are actually without forms. All things are without forms, then, why does it seem to have various forms and shapes? Such is mental appearance, it is conferred upon by the mind. The form of all things are mental creations; the mind creates the forms of what appears before the eyes, it is similar without difference with the creations of objects in dreams. It is only that sentient beings forgot how the mind initially functions, therefore strongly attaches to discriminating the difference between the dream world and this world, and over time there comes to formation such perceptual delusions with regards to this world.一切修行者，若能明白“自相、共相、无相、心相”——这四步法，则能从众生到佛。出离自相，从自相跃到共相，是二乘人的见地；出离共相，从共相了解到诸法无相，是菩萨的见地；由无相，实证一切相是心相，是大菩萨见地。解心亦无，一切法空，归流于佛！修行者若能见共相，则能出自相；若能见无相，则能出自共相；若能知无相，则能知心相！仅了解前两者，是凡夫位；又了解后两者，入圣位。一切修众，但解此四法，从众生至佛！All practitioners, if we understand “self-form, common-form, no-form, mind-form” – these four-step dharmas, we would then be able to (transform from) sentient beings to Buddha. Departing from self-form, leaping from self-form into common-form, this is the Two Vehicles (Hinayana and Pratyekabuddha)'s viewpoint, departing from common-form and understanding all dharmas are empty of form, such as Bodhisattva's viewpoint; due to no-form, realizing that all forms are mental appearances, that is Great Bodhisattva's viewpoint. Understanding that mind is empty; all empty dharmas, return and flow into Buddha! If practitioners can see common-form, (they) can depart from self-form; if (they) can see no-form, then (they) can depart from common-form; if (they) can understand no-form, (they) can understand mind-appearance! Only understanding the first two, that would be the position of commoners; if we further understand the latter two, we enter into the position of sainthood. All fellow practitioners, understand these four dharmas, from sentient beings arrive at Buddha(hood)!

These recent discussions are taken from the Dharmawheel forum. Thanks to Kyle Dixon for sharing this compilation.

PadmaVonSamba wrote:Since this basic awareness cannot be found to have a cause other than itself, and since it has no defining characteristics of its own, and since it cannot be denied, or separated into any kind of 'non-awareness' parts, I would suggest that it is truly existent, non-specific, non-self, synonymous with the meaning of Dharmakaya and the essence of realization.

Malcolm wrote:As I said before, you have a monistic hindu nondual view. Not even dharmakāya is "truly existent".

PadmaVonSamba wrote:Well then, refute awareness. I suggest it is "truly existent" meaning I used that phrase) for the reasons I have stated, the way that space is truly existent. not in the "Monistic Hindu" way that you suggest. Such an entity would still be an object of awareness, something which is experienced and not awareness itself. If a "Monistic Hindu" (if there is such a person) wished to label it Mahatama or something, and claim that it is awareness that is his doing, and perhaps yours but it is beside what I am saying.

However, you may be right that it is in fact not synonymous with Dharmakayaif you are saying that Dharmakaya is a composite,produced by other causes.

Malcolm wrote:You already did [refute awareness] by claiming it truly existed. There is no such thing as "truly existent". I am not refuting awareness, I am refuting your claim that awareness truly exists. Individual awarenesses exist, just not "truly", they have no original cause because they are all conditioned entities. No conditioned series has an origin. Such is the logic of the Buddha.

PadmaVonSamba wrote:Very interesting.

Malcolm wrote:Space is also not "truly existent". Nirvana is not truly existent.

Read the Heart Sutra again, in case you forgot.

M

PadmaVonSamba wrote:if you are saying that Dharmakaya is a composite,produced by other causes.

Malcolm wrote:No, but as a I just said, even uncompounded phenomena — of which Mahāyāna Buddhism recognizes only four: space, the two cessations and emptiness — are not truly existent.

Malcolm wrote:Not even dharmakāya is "truly existent".

smcj wrote:There is not 100% agreement on that.

Malcolm wrote:People who think dharmakāya is truly existent are simply wrong, and suffer from an eternalist bias.

In reality the three kāyas are also conventions.

PadmaVonSamba wrote:I am talking about even the awareness of these four things [space, the two cessations and emptiness].

Malcolm wrote:Yes, I understand. All awarenesses are conditioned. There is no such thing as a universal undifferentiated ultimate awareness in Buddhadharma. Even the omniscience of a Buddha arises from a cause.

PadmaVonSamba wrote:isn't this cause, too, an object of awareness? Isn't there awareness of this cause? If awareness of this cause is awareness itself, then isn't this awareness of awareness? What causes awareness of awareness, if not awareness?

If awareness is the cause of awareness, isn't it its own cause?

Malcolm wrote:Omniscience is the content of a mind freed of afflictions. Even the continuum of a Buddha has a relative ground, i.e. a the rosary or string of moments of clarity is beginingless.

Origination from self is axiomatically negated in Buddhadharma,

Each moment in the continuum of a knowing clarity is neither the same as nor different than the previous moment. Hence the cause of a given instant of a knowing clarity cannot be construed to be itself nor can it be construed to be other than itself. This is the only version of causation which, in the final analysis, Buddhadharma can admit to on a relative level. It is the logical consequence of the Buddha's insight, "When this exists, that exists, with the arising of that, this arose."

PadmaVonSamba wrote:I am not referring to cognition, rather, the causes of that cognition.

If you suggest anything other than this, you wind up in Hindu La la land.

Malcolm wrote:There is no such thing as a universal undifferentiated ultimate awareness in Buddhadharma.

gad rgyangs wrote:"In other words, following Khenpo Jikphun (transcript from JLA) :« — You have the Base (gzhi) of the natural state. That state has a knowledge (rig pa) which, owing to the dynamism of the state (which is not static), flashes out of the Base."

Malcolm wrote:This occurs because of latent traces of karma and affliction left over from the previous eon, according to a commentary attributed to Garab Dorje on the Single Son of All the Buddhas Tantras.

So this neutral awareness that rises out of the basis upon the stirring of vāyu in the basis actually has a cause.

"Amazing!Mere clear vidyā, this mere intermediate realization,it is not a buddha, is not a sentient beings,neutral, dependent on both conditions.For example, it is like a stainless crystal ball,which can produce fire or water through the condition of the sun or the moon.Likewise, vidyā, the essence of the mind,arises as the suffering of samsara or the bliss of nirvana through conditions."

The Three Kāyas Tantra from the Ka dag rang shar

gad rgyangs wrote:how could the basis be subject to karma and afflictions?

Malcolm wrote:The basis does not have a cause, just like space does not have a cause. But it is a repository for the build up of traces nevertheless.

'The way samsara arose at first is, when the trio of vāyu, vidyā and space arose from the undifferentiated basis, since vidyā was unstable because of isolation, and engaged in self-delusion, panicked at sound, frightened of the light, and fainted at the light and was covered by ignorance. After it engages in self-delusion, the duality of outer objects and inner mind arises. The mere thought of self arising from other, and other arising from self, disturbed the karmavāyus. Mind is built up by the vāyu, the analytical mind analyzes objects. The self-deluded awareness demarcated sensation and since it did not recognize it own appearances, apparent objects were apprehended as a duality. Since that accumulated traces of karma, a physical body was appropriated and the suffering of delusion is uninterrupted. For example, sentient being formed out of ignorance are like being stuck pitch dark.'

The Clear Lamp from the Ka dag rang shar

The whole process is clearly personal and individual, not transpersonal.

gad rgyangs wrote:It could only be a repository if it was reified. The basis is said to have/be "rang byung ye shes", and is equated with rigpa in many texts. are these not cognitive terms?

Malcolm wrote:Space is a repository for all things, one does not have to reify space to understand that.

"Rang byung ye shes" means "wisdom that arises from oneself". This point is very clearly explained in many places.

In any event, we can consider that the Vima Nyinthig commentary attributed to Garab Dorje authoritative:

"From now on, the stirred pit of samsara will not appear as the six kinds of living beings. for twenty thousand eons, sentient beings, having severed the stream of samsara, will not appear with a bodily form. After that, from the arising of the subtle latent defilements of different actions, it will be equivalent with the production of the previous samsara and nirvana"

Thus we find out that all this business about the basis and so on is really just a way to talk about what happens in the so called dark eons, when everything below the third and fourth rūpadhātu are held to disappear, even though the origin of the basis is often couched in terms to place in an unimaginable primeval beginning.

Its a Buddhist way to try to talk about origins without talking about origins. "I can't find where it started so I am going to call it 'self-originated'." But if someone thinks it is pointing to some transcendental uber consciousness, well, if that is what someone thinks, I think someone doesn't really understand Dzogchen at all. If someone things the basis is consciousness, or some cognitive or noetic principle, they have understood nothing.

gad rgyangs wrote:Then what does it ['Rang byung ye shes' meaning 'wisdom that arises from oneself'] mean as an attribute of the basis?

The basis is not space.

Malcolm wrote:Nyibum* states:

As such, because the basis, one’s unfabricated mind, arose as the essence of reality of a single nature, there is no need to search elsewhere for the place etc., i.e. it is called self-originated wisdom.

The basis is nothing more nor nothing less this.

*the son of Zhang stong Chobar, the terton of the Vima Nyinthig

gad rgyangs wrote:I'm glad you took out the part where you said the basis is nothing but alaya!

as to the quote, the basis does not "arise", it is the basis of arising. I'm also not sure I like equating one's mind, unfabricated or not, with the basis: one's mind is clearly an appearance, not the basis.

Malcolm wrote:Sorry but the term ālaya in Dzogchen and term as it is used, for example in Sakya, are completely different.

The term basis in Dzogchen (sthāna) and the term ālaya in Lamdre for example, have precisely the same meaning, i.e. one’s unfabricated mind (rang sems ma bcos pa).

Malcolm wrote:Yes, I believe so. So basically, all that fancy Dzogchen lingo about the basis and so on is really just talking about a mind stream that is proposed to have a primordial start point which is completely free of proliferation.

We can trust Nyibum about this because his father invented/revealed the Nyinthig tradition and he himself was a great scholar who studied widely.

gad rgyangs wrote:I dunno Malcolm, the basis is more like the backdrop against which any appearances appear, including any consciousness. Also, what sense would it make to say "rigpa is one's knowledge of the basis" if that basis was one's own continuum? the basis is pure no-thing as abgrund of all phenomena. Consciousness is always a phenomenon.

Malcolm wrote:I prefer to put my faith in the guy whose father started the whole Nyinthig thing.And what is says is verified in many Dzogchen tantras, both from the bodhcitta texts as well as others.

The basis is not a backdrop. Everything is not separate from the basis. But that everything just means your own skandhas, dhātus and āyatanas. There is no basis outside your mind, just as there is no Buddhahood outside of your mind.

[Quoting gad rgyangs: Consciousness is always a phenomenon.] So is the basis. They are both dharmas.

Or as the Great Garuda has it when refuting Madhyamaka:

Since phenomena and nonphenomena have always been merged and are inseparable,there is no further need to explain an “ultimate phenomenon”.

An 12th century commentary on this text states (but not this passage):

Amazing bodhicitta (the identity of everything that becomes the basis of pursuing the meaning that cannot be seen nor realized elsewhere than one’s vidyā) is wholly the wisdom of the mind distinct as the nine consciousnesses that lack a nature.

In the end, Dzogchen is really just another Buddhist meditative phenomenology of the mind and person and that is all.

gad rgyangs wrote:Then why speak of a basis at all? just speak of skandhas, dhātus and āyatanas, and be done with it.

Malcolm wrote:Because these things are regarded as afflictive, whereas Dzogchen is trying to describe the person in his or her originally nonafflictive condition. It really is just that simple. The so called general basis is a universal derived from the particulars of persons. That is why it is often mistaken for a transpersonal entity. But Dzogchen, especially man ngag sde is very grounded in Buddhist Logic, and one should know that by definition universals are considered to be abstractions and non-existents in Buddhism, and Dzogchen is no exception.

gad rgyangs wrote:There is no question of the basis being an entity, thats not the point. Rigpa is precisely what it says in the yeshe sangthal: instant presence experienced against/within the "backdrop" (metaphor) of a "vast dimension of emptiness" (metaphor).

Malcolm wrote:It's your own rigpa, not a transpersonal rigpa, being a function of your own mind. That mind is empty.

gad rgyangs wrote:When all appearances cease, what are you left with?

Malcolm wrote:They never cease....

gad rgyangs wrote:In the yeshe sangthal you dissolve all appearances into the "vast dimension of emptiness", out of which "instant presence" arises. This is cosmological as well as personal, since the two scales are nondual.

rigpa is ontological not epistemic: its not about some state of consciousness before dualism vision, it is about the basis/abgrund of all possible appearances, including our consciousness in whatever state its in or could ever be in.

Malcolm wrote:Sorry, I just don't agree with you and think you are just falling in the Hindu brahman trap.

Sherlock wrote:Isn't the difference between transpersonal and personal also a form of dualism?

Malcolm wrote:The distinction is crucial. If this distinction is not made, Dzogchen sounds like Vedanta.

Malcolm wrote:[Quoting gad rgyangs: in the yeshe sangthal you dissolve all appearances into the "vast dimension of emptiness", out of which "instant presence" arises. This is cosmological as well as personal, since the two scales are nondual.]

'The way that great transference body arises:when all appearances have gradually been exhausted,when one focuses one’s awareness on the appearances strewn abouton the luminous maṇḍala of the five fingers of one’s hand,the environment and inhabitants of the universereturning from that appearance are perceived as like moon in the water.One’s body is just a reflection,self-apparent as the illusory body of wisdom;one obtains a vajra-like body.One sees one’s body as transparent inside and out. The impure eyes of others cannot see one’s body as transparent, but only the body as it was before...'

Shabkar, Key to One Hundred Doors of Samadhi

Outer appearances do not disappear even when great transference body is attained. What disappears are the inner visions, that is what is exhausted, not the outer universe with its planets, stars, galaxies, mountains, oceans, cliffs, houses, people and sentient beings.

M

gad rgyangs wrote:I'm talking about the perception of the relationship between nothing and something. The question of what jargon to use when talking around it is secondary, although not without historical interest.

Malcolm wrote:Rigpa is just knowing, the noetic quality of a mind. That is all it is.

Malcolm wrote:Omniscience is the content of a mind freed of afflictions. Even the continuum of a Buddha has a relative ground, i.e. a the rosary or string of moments of clarity is beginingless.

Origination from self is axiomatically negated in Buddhadharma,

Each moment in the continuum of a knowing clarity is neither the same as nor different than the previous moment. Hence the cause of a given instant of a knowing clarity cannot be construed to be itself nor can it be construed to be other than itself. This is the only version of causation which, in the final analysis, Buddhadharma can admit to on a relative level. It is the logical consequence of the Buddha's insight, "When this exists, that exists, with the arising of that, this arose."

dzogchungpa wrote:Honestly, this doesn't make any sense to me.

Malcolm wrote:It is pretty straight forward Madhyamaka. If a cause exists at the same time as the effect, the effect is a non-effect, like a seed and its sprout existing at the same time. On the other hand if causes and effects are temporally separate, i.e. of the cause exists at a different time than the effect, the cause will amount to a non-cause and the effect, a non-effect. If the cause is the same as the effect, the cause will be a non-cause and the effect will be a non-effect. If they are different, then also cause will be a non-cause and the effect will be a non-effect.

Therefore, what Candrakirti proposes, following Nāgārjuna, is that causes and effects are neither the same nor are they different, and that they are not simultaneous nor are they temporally distinct.

dzogchungpa wrote:This I understand.

[Quoting Malcolm: Therefore, what Candrakirti proposes, following Nāgārjuna, is that causes and effects are neither the same nor are they different, and that they are not simultaneous nor are they temporally distinct.]

This I don't.

Malcolm wrote:Sure you do. We have shown that the standard accounts of cause and effect, that they are temporally distinct, or that they are identical of different, are incoherent, from a Madhyamaka point of view. But since effects do appear to arise from causes, given that all of the above is true, this leaves only one option, that causes and their effects are neither the same nor are they different, for example, butter and milk, etc.

dzogchungpa wrote:OK, now it all makes sense.

dzogchungpa wrote:Can you say a little more about what you mean by a primordial start point?

Malcolm wrote:It doesn't really mean anything. The continuum of a mind has no beginning. What is being proposed in (some) Dzogchen texts is that at some idealized point in the most distant past beyond our imagination there was a time when our mind was in a state of non-fabrication. At that time this non-fabricated mind, aka the basis, was not aware of itself or anything else but contains within it all the qualities of buddhahood. Then somehow, and it is never really explained how, our own mind's cognitive potentiality [rtsal] stirs and rises up ['phags] out of itself giving rise to neutral awareness that either becomes prajñā or ignorance depending on whether it recognizes its own potentiality or not. This kicks off the division between samsara and nirvana. It is completely personal and is not transpersonal at all. But unfortunately, because Dzogchen texts are not very clear about this, the account of the basis tends to be interpreted transpersonally, most likely due to the proliferation of Advaita.

It is my deeply held conviction that this transpersonal account which is favored by many people is a total misunderstanding based on reading these texts in Tibetan for the past 20 years and receiving detailed teachings on them from a variety of very qualified masters .

cloudburst wrote: [Quoting Malcolm: As I said the basis is just your own mind.][Quoting Malcolm: The gzhi, in Dzogchen, has nothing to do with the mind.]

HI Malcolm

Could you give a brief account of how your view has changed on this matter? It's somewhat striking.

Thank you.

Malcolm wrote: It is simple: the basis has nothing to do with afflicted mind, the one we ordinarily experience.The two statements may be reconciled in the following way.

The basis is simply a way of talking about the components of the universe — earth, water, fire, air, space and consciousness — from the point of view their luminous intrinsic purity. A way of saying this in Tibetan in Dzogchen terms would be ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་རང་བཞིན་གྱིས་ཀ་དག་དང་ལྷུན་གྲབ (all phenomena are pure and naturally perfect by nature); a gsar ma equivalent presentation might run ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་རང་བཞིན་གྱིས་དག་པ་དང་འོད་གསལ་བ (all phenomena are pure and luminous by nature).

The Kalacakra tantra makes a very important point about this, as Tagtshang Lotsawa points out in his survey of the Vimalaprabha:

Great bliss and empty forms [śunyatābimba, stong gzugs] are shown to exist in the basis with this wisdom element of the basis [gzhi] because Bhagavan Vajsattva Mahāsukha explains that all three realms exist in oneself in the commentary of the third verse of this [adhyātma] chapter, and it is established through the citation of the root text and commentary of “wisdom merged into emptiness”. What is this wisdom? He again clarifies:

Bearing the name “wisdom”, this consciousness that exists pervading the bodies of all sentient beings is merged into that emptiness which pervades all sentient beings, including the sentient beings of the bardo and the formless realm. This is taught in the commentary as existing through a relative mode.

In Kalacakra, for example, the wisdom element is considered to be the five elements counted as one. Tatshang again:

As such, from among the ten elements, the first five are enumerated individually, i.e., the elements of space, air, fire, water and earth. Counting the latter five as one, since they are made into one so called “wisdom element”, these six elements form this womb-born body.

The fact that points towards the same meaning as the basis in Dzogchen is provided by him here:This statement of the root text “Wisdom is merged into emptiness, uniform taste, unchanging, and permanent” is intended for the mind of the apprehending subject that apprehends the object of the empty form established through the power of meditating on the main [devatā]. Here, the meaning of uniform taste, unchanging and permanent are though to be “complete in perfection.” Further, the meaning of permanent is said to be freedom from obscurations. That also intends intrinsically lacking obscuration or without the obscurations of movements. Though there is nothing to identify here in inseparable uniform taste, while produced conditionally, the intention is that the apprehended object and the apprehending subject have a single essence, and that a transforming continuum is not possible.

This is an extremely important point and demonstrates why the body of light is possible through either Dzogchen thögal or the path of the two stages.

Now, someone might object that it is inappropriate to cite the Kalacakra to clarify points in Dzogchen tantras, but then if this is so, then all great masters from Nubchen on down to Dudjom Rinpoche are at fault for using such tantras as the Mañjuśrīnamasamgiti to clarify Dzogchen.

Now, I am just a scholar, sharing with those who are interested my research. For many people it is annoying that I change my opinions, but I only have opinions based on what I know. Since I am not an enlightened person I can only understand what is said in the texts along with my own experience. Therefore, when my learning contradicts my earlier opinions, I change the latter immediately as soon as I have confirmed them mistaken. Such is the only honest path of real scholarship. Since I am not a person who can just accept what is told to me, my path is a bit more brutal and hard than most. But I consider that I am like a goldsmith, and it would be remiss of me not to rigorously test these texts that appear to shine like gold to see if they really are gold, merely gold-plated or fool's gold.

gad rgyangs wrote:you are forgetting that at the level of the basis there is no distinction between personal and universal. If you want to call the basis a quality shared by everything that arises you have merely coopted the term ususally used for the origin/ground of everything that arises and now you need a new term for that. unless of course you want to reify indivduals as independent monads of some sort, which is basically svabhava.

Malcolm wrote:Defining the basis as a sort of fabric out of which appearances arise does not solve the problem of individuated consciousnesses.

What is the basis in fact? The Dzogchen tantras describe this as "wisdom". This wisdom is said to have three aspects [rnam pa], original purity, its svabhāva; natural perfection, its prakṛiti; and compassion, the inseparability of the first two.

Even discussing wisdom as a the basis, even a nonsubstantiated basis as in Dzogchen does not make sense if that wisdom is not describing a noetic entity. Simplistic solutions like refusing to define it as one or many simply raise more questions than they answer.

There are two propositions:

B1, the basis as a transpersonal field out of which everything in samsara and nirvana is instantiated through its non-recognition.

B2 the basis is meant only to apply to any given sentient beings. Since this applies to all sentient being, here the basis is like fire, fire as light and heat as a quality, every instantiation of fire has light and heat. Likewise, every sentient beings shares common characteristics because they are sentient, they have consciousness.

Dante, your position is B1, and while I can understand how people are lead to accept B1 as the message of Dzogchen teachings, it is an exaggeration in my estimation.

Instead, I think B2 is the more proper understanding, based for example on Nyibum's remark that the basis is one's unfabricated mind. This is an authoritative citation that must be addressed and heeded. For example, the Mind Mirror of Vajrasattva states:

That is one’s own basis but it was not recognized by oneself. The samsaric three realms are formed through delusion. Then, after the afflictions become more coarse, different forms of sentient beings emerge, deluded from the basis in that way.”

This just means that each and every sentient being is deluded from their own basis; even though the basis is described in generic terms, it is not the case that all sentient beings ultimate share one basis. The basis is uniform in its nature, if you will, among all instantiations of sentient beings but each and every sentient being's basis is unique to that being. Since the Dzogchen tantras do describe wisdom as being a repository for traces, again we can try to explain this through B1 or B2.

In the B1 scenario, the basis would have to like a bank, where different people placed their traces, kind of like samsara accounts.

A B2 scenario is much simpler, since it is only means that since sentient beings did not recognize their own unfabricated minds, then they begin to develop the traces of action that produce our common karmic visions of the six realms. This is certainly the intent of Shabkar when he writes:

Therefore, since appearances are not fixed, whatever appears [appears] because of the power of traces.

And:

Therefore, everything is an appearance of the mind.Since everything is created by the concepts of the mind,in reality, all of the appearances of the mind are empty.

More importantly Shabkar states:

Self-originated primordial wisdom appearing as vidyā is also the mind...There are no appearances at all apart from the mind.

And:

This is the introduction that confirms the basis, the natural reality of the mind essence.

Compare these last two with Nyibum:

As such, because the basis, one’s unfabricated mind, arose as the essence of the sole reality, there is no need to search elsewhere for the place etc., i.e. it is called self-originated wisdom.(Apologies for the last version, which was from an earlier unedited version by mistake)

My present position therefore, is B2, the basis is just the way a sentient being's consciousness [shes pa rather than rnam par shes pa] or mind [sems, citta] is talked about in Dzogchen texts prior to being afflicted for all the reasons I mentioned earlier.

M

gad rgyangs wrote:

Malcolm wrote:B1, the basis as a transpersonal field out of which everything in samsara and nirvana is instantiated through its non-recognition.

the basis is not a field. its not an any-thing.

Malcolm wrote:This is a faulty presentation of the basis, one of the six faulty positions about the basis described in the Six Dimensions of Samantabhadra Tantra, as well as others.

gad rgyangs wrote: thats why it cannot contain traces, it would have to be some kind of existent locus for that.

asunthatneversets wrote:

Here are the sixfold faulty definitions of the basis [gzhi] from The Six Dimensions of Samantabhadra in case anyone is interested. Compiled from David Germano's and Tsele Natsok Rangdrol's translations of this section:

There are two types of understanding in reference to the basis [gzhi]:

(a) The basis as an object of knowledge held to be absolute.(b) The basis as original purity [ka dag].

(a) The Basis as an Object of Knowledge held to be Absolute:

It has six aspects (all of which are inaccurate).

(i) The belief that the basis is spontaneously present.(ii) The belief that the basis is indefinite.(iii) The belief that it is the definite and determinate foundation.(iv) The belief that it is totally changeable.(v) The belief that it can be said to be anything whatsoever.(vi) The belief that it is multifaceted with various aspects.

These six aspects are faulty beliefs. They are partial and biased and should not be accepted in this context as the true basis. Through them you would have no more than a partial understanding of the natural state.

The following is the seventh understanding of the basis which is held to be the single accurate view.

(b) The basis as original purity [ka dag]:

(vii) Original purity [ka dag].

Malcolm wrote:Wisdom is suitable as a basis for traces, or so the Dzogchen texts tell us.

Malcolm wrote: Even discussing wisdom as a the basis, even a nonsubstantiated basis as in Dzogchen does not make sense if that wisdom is not describing a noetic entity.

gad rgyangs wrote: then what is that wisdom?

Malcolm wrote:A mind lacking fabrications.

Malcolm wrote: the basis is just the way a sentient being's consciousness [shes pa rather than rnam par shes pa] or mind [sems, citta] is talked about in Dzogchen texts prior to being afflicted for all the reasons I mentioned earlier.

gad rgyangs wrote: ok, then whats the basis of that consciousness?

Malcolm wrote:Ka dag or emptiness, the correct description of the basis according the the man ngag sde texts. But as pointed out in these same texts, the basis is not merely emptiness. It also has "wisdom" (ye shes), which is a kind of shes pa or sems, a primordial or pristine consciousness, as opposed to a rnam shes, an aspected consciousness that possesses concepts. Basically, even though Dzogchen texts describe such a "beginning time", I personally don't believe that there is a start point ever. The description of such a start point is merely a literary device, much as Samantabhadra is a literary device. The five elements are also included in wisdom, etc., so there is no contradiction between saying that the basis is wisdom, and the basis is empty. The problem comes only if one imagines that basis is somehow a unitary entity, a fabric, which provides the basis for the arising of sentient beings and buddhas on an objective level. But if, as I have come to understand, it is not referring to an objective entity or context, then the basis is easily described as a a set of general features which every noetic entity that we call "buddhas" or "sentient being" shares in common as an idealized "initial" set of conditions. The only difference between buddhas and sentient beings then is the extent to which they recognize this set of general features within their own continuums. Hence in this respect the so called original general basis merely describes an abstract set of qualities, but is not itself an instantiation of those qualities in any way. Those qualities are only instantiated in a sattva, a being. In this way the basis is not one, because it is instantiated individually; it is not many because it is a uniform set of qualities that are being instantiated across all beings. This way, the general Buddhist dictum which extends all the way down to Vasubandhu's Kośabhaṣ (and clearly the authors of the Dzogchen tantras were familiar with it because they use the Kośa cosmology in such tantras as the Rigpa Rangshar), matter arises from mind/s. I.e. the order of the arising of matter presented in virtually all buddhist texts is:Consciousness --> space --> air --> fire --> water --> earth. In Dzogchen texts we see an analogous sequence: wisdom --> blue light --> green light --> red light --> white light -- yellow light; which when reified becomes the standard Buddhist sequence above. The only difference between the two sequences is that the former sequence occurs when the latter sequence is not recognized for being what it is, the display of a given being's own noetic capacity.

ConradTree wrote:

Malcolm wrote:[Instead, I think B2 is the more proper understanding, based for example on Nyibum's remark that the basis is one's unfabricated mind. This is an authoritative citation that must be addressed and heeded. For example, the Mind Mirror of Vajrasattva states:

M

You have previously argued the basis of Dzogchen is not even the unfabricated mind:

Malcolm wrote:But as pointed out in these same texts, the basis is not merely emptiness. It also has "wisdom" (ye shes), which is a kind of shes pa or sems, a primordial or pristine consciousness, as opposed to a rnam shes, an aspected consciousness that possesses concepts.

Yes this is called Advaita Vedanta.

Malcolm wrote:

No, since this ye shes is personal, never transpersonal, and at the time of the basis, is merely describing the mind (shes pa, sems) in a pre-afflictive state.

Malcolm wrote:In Dzogchen texts we see an analogous sequence: wisdom --> blue light --> green light --> red light --> white light -- yellow light; which when reified becomes the standard Buddhist sequence above. The only difference between the two sequences is that the former sequence occurs when the latter sequence is not recognized for being what it is, the display of a given being's own noetic capacity.

ConradTree wrote:

If you are defining wisdom as pristine consciousness, then this a slight twist on Advaita Vedanta.

Malcolm wrote:

Tibetans translate jñāna as ye shes. That term "ye shes "is frequently translated as "pristine awareness" or "primordial wisdom", etc. I am saying that Dzogchen authors take this term very literally (a literalism criticized by people like Sakya Pandita) because they are taking this mode of shes pa (jñatā, jñānatā, parijñāna, etc.), which they describe as ye shes to mean that the original state (ye nas) of the mind (shes pa) is pre-afflictive, and Dzogchen is the path to recover that primordial state.

I am not saying that this consciousness is a universal plenum, like brahman, from which all beings arise; that is exactly the mistake I think most people fall into when studying Dzogchen, i.e. they wind up falling into an unintentional brahman trap.

Thus what I am saying is the basis is personal, not universal. Each's being has their own basis since they each have their own mind, the characteristics of the basis (essence, nature and compassion) are general, and apply to all minds, just as all candles on a table are separate and unique, but all flames on those candles bear the same qualities, heat and light.

The fault that I suffered from was not seeing the fact that "rnam shes" (vijñāna), "shes rab" (prajñā), "ye shes" (jñāna), "shes pa"(jñatā) are all talking about one thing, different modalities of a single continuum from sentient being hood to Buddhahood, based on language in man ngag sde texts, reinforced very strongly by Longchenpa, which make a very hard distinction between sems (citta) and yeshe (jñāna) without recognizing the distinction is not in substance, but merely in mode i.e. afflicted/non-afflicted.

Let me add, that the way I see it now is that "rnam shes", consciousness, refers to the afflicted mind, "ye shes" refers to the unafflicted mind; and "shes pa" refers the a mind which is neutral, that can go either way depending on whether it is under the influence of vidyā or avidyā.

Really, I am not saying anything that is terribly controversial. I am recognizing that I was mislead by a distinction made by Longchenpa and others who, for didactic reasons, make a hard distinction between mind/consciousness and wisdom when what they are really doing is making a hard distinction between utterly afflicted minds and utterly pure minds, and providing a literary mythology (the universe arises out of the basis) to explain the separation of sentient beings and buddhas.

I have similarly come to the conclusion that the account of the basis arising out of the basis and the separation of samsara and nirvana at some imagined start point unimaginable eons ago is just a literary myth, and it does not need to be taken literally.

OK, then why do 'karuna' and 'abheda' have the same meaning here, if that is what you are saying?

Malcolm wrote:

No, thugs rjes is often defined as the inseparability of ka dag and lhun grub.

Ngo bo/svabhāva, i.e. emptiness is the characteristic of ka dag/śuddhaRang bzhin/prakṛtī, i.e. clarity, is the characteristic of lhun grub/ anābhogaThugs rjes/karuna, i.e. compassion, is the characteristic inseparability/abheda of the former pair.

The reason people see the five lights everywhere they look is that they no longer have traces to reify the five elements as the five elements because their consciousness has become free of all traces of the two obscurations, i.e. with those removed, what remains is wisdom.

Of course, there is nothing substantial that is ever removed, from such a mind.

Then we gave this from the Rig pa rang shar:

Son of a good family, one must recognize the awareness [shes pa] free from grasping as one’s own state.

Or the Rang grol:

A vidyā that performs actions does not existin the essence of pure awareness.

Or the Mind Mirror of Samantabhadra has an interlinear note:

The nature of one’s vidyā is light. Since kāyas are the gathered in the sphere of wisdom, the meaning of the view of Samantabhadra is realized. Further, there is vidyā and the wisdom that arises from vidyā. Further, vidyā that is free from extremes and beyond multiplicity does not transcend awareness (shes pa) and knowing (rig), endowed with a core of empty wisdom free from the extremes of things.

The Sun and Moon Tantra states:

At that time, that fortunate onewhen the appearances are self-evident, the non-abiding awareness is called “natural”.

Anyway, there are too many references in various Dzogchen texts which state quite clearly that the basis is just one's mind. This is consistent with Buddhadharma. Other explanations are not.

M

ConradTree wrote:

Malcolm wrote:The reason people see the five lights everywhere they look

Stop right there. No need to go further.

This indicates the basis is the 5 lights.

checkmate.

Old Malcolm wins over new Malcolm.

Malcolm wrote:

The basis is not the five lights. The five lights are expressions of wisdom.

Those all just exist in one's mind, as Shabkar point out.

The basis is not something separate from you the person, and it is not some uniform transpersonal field. It is just your own mind and it's essence.

By the way I never thought the basis was a transpersonal field. But have become aware that many people interpret is as such, and therefore, I writing to correct this misapprehension.

In other words, Dzogchen teachings about the basis are actually "disappointingly" Buddhist and not so radical after all.

smcj wrote:the basis" is not simply your own mind (which would be what is usually called a Yogacaran interpretation)

Malcolm wrote:The ālaya cause continuum (Sakya), the fundamental mind of luminosity (Gelug), "ground mahāmudra" (Kagyu) or the "basis" (Nyingma) all refer to the same thing, i.e., one's unfabricated mind. There is no contradiction between these positions and a position that holds that the basis is tathāgatagarbha. All of these are merely different ways of discussing tathāgatagarbha.

M

smcj wrote:

Malcolm wrote:

smcj wrote:the basis" is not simply your own mind (which would be what is usually called a Yogacaran interpretation)

=It is called Wisdom (Skt.: jnana) and also the dharmata. It is the essential reality of all things. It is said to be truly existent and not self-empty. As such it offends the sensibilities of people that get hysterical when the specter of brahman shows itself.

Malcolm wrote:As I already pointed out, wisdom is a noetic quality. It cannot be a noetic quality separate from our mind. It cannot be a singular noetic quality pervading all minds. When the "mind" is completely purified of all taints, it is called "wisdom" (jñāna) When it is with taints it is called consciousness (vijñāna). If we follow what you are saying, there is no hope at all of finding Buddhahood within our own minds, since buddhahood and wisdom would be extraneous to our continuums. If we are to find buddhahood within our own minds, as hundreds of texts recommend, then we have to discover that buddhahood in the essence of our own minds. That is not transpersonal. Even gzhan stong does not presuppose a brahman like entity. They are merely stating that the three kāyas are the inherent in the nature of the mind. For example, Dolbupa, arguable the founder of gshan stong terms the tathāgatagarbhe the ālaya, the all-basis. He says too, [Hopkins, 2006, pg. 65] "Similarly the Glorious Hevajra Tantra also says that the natural clear light mind that resides in all sentient beings is buddha..." And on page 106 he says "...Bhavya's "Lamp for (Nāgājruna's) Wisdom" if the middle way:It consciousness, clear light, nirvana, All-emptiness, and body of attrubutes.

[The term] "consciousness" on this occasion is in consideration of the consciousness of the noumenon and pure consciousness because it is used as a synonym for the clearly body of attributes."On 120 he says:If the matrix-of-the-one-gone-bliss did not exist in fact, it would incur the irreversible fallacy of contradicting the statement in the Descent to Lankā Sūtra that the mind beyond logic, the essence of the ultimate 12 grounds, natural clear light, buddha-matrix, natural virtue, basis free from all positions, final source of refuge, and exalted buddha wisdom is the matrix-of-one-gone-bliss. So you can see, the term below "one's unfabricated mind" has exactly the same meaning and for this reason I maintain that the view of the basis proposed in Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug, Nyingma and Jonang are the same, even though they describe it differently, from different angles and with different terminology. The meaning and the subject of discussion however is the same.As such, because the basis, one’s unfabricated mind, arose as the essence of the sole reality, there is no need to search elsewhere for the place etc., i.e. it is called self-originated wisdom.M

gad rgyangs wrote:3) the appearances of the basis consist of all phenomena of samsara and nirvana, including "sentient beings" and their "minds":

Malcolm wrote:The tantra is describing the basis in abstract general terms, not as an instantiated entity which has a function. Therefore, the basis is not transpersonal in manner in which you have previously suggested.

The "Illuminating Lamp" says:"From within this indeterminate spontaneous presenceThere is a manifestation-process of varied plurality,And its unceasing play accomplishes everything and anything,As it shines forth everywhere in any way;In its indeterminancy, there is a plurality of appearances"so yes, the basis of the mind of a sentient being is the same basis as the basis of all phenomena of samsara and nirvana: the basis beyond all words and categories.

Nyibum who is an authority on this subject, could not be clearer. The basis is just one's unfabricated mind. That is the basis for all samsara and nirvana. In Sakya it is called the all-basis cause continuum, in Kagyu, ground mahāmudra, in Gelug, the mind of clear light and in Jonang, tathāgatagarbha.

gad rgyangs wrote:3) the appearances of the basis consist of all phenomena of samsara and nirvana, including "sentient beings" and their "minds":

Malcolm wrote:"All phenomena" simply means one skandha, one āyatana and one dhātu e.g. rūpaskandha, mano-āyatana and the dharmadhātu. And as I pointed, even the container universe arises from consciousnesses according to Buddhism through their collective activity. Dzogchen is just another way of describing this insight which is found even in Abhidharma (of which Dzogchen is a self-described part).

Update: On 13 February 2013, I added two more posts by Loppon Namdrol below.

The following recent post by Loppon Namdrol (Malcolm Smith) reminds me
of Acharya Mahayogi Shridhar Rana Rinpoche, who said in his article Madhyamika Buddhism Vis-a-vis Hindu Vedanta,
"However, the Buddhist Ultimate Truth is the absence of any such satta
i.e. ultimately existing thing or ultimate reality. That is the
significance of Shunyata - absence of any real, independent, unchanging
existence (Skt. svabhava). And that fact is the Ultimate Truth of
Buddhism, which is diametrically opposite to the Ultimate Truth of the
Hindu Brahma. So Shunyata can never be a negative way of describing the
Atman - Brahma of Hinduism as Vinoba Bhave and such scholars would have
us believe. The meaning of Shunyata
found in Sutra, Tantra, Dzogchen or Mahamudra is the same as the
Prasangika emptiness of Chandrakirti i.e. unfindability of any true
existence or simply unfindability. Some writers of DzogChen and
Mahamudra or Tantra think that the emptiness of Nagarjuna is different
from the emptiness found in these systems. But I would like to ask them
whether their emptiness is findable or unfindable; whether or not the
significance of emptiness in these systems is also not the fact of
unfindability."

There is no teaching in Buddhism higher than dependent origination.
Whatever originates in dependence is empty. The view
of Dzogchen, according to ChNN (Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche)
in his rdzogs chen skor dri len is the same as
Prasanga Madhyamaka, with one difference only - Madhyamaka view is
a result of intellectual analysis, Dzogchen view is
not. Philosophically, however, they are the
same. The view of Madhyamaka does not go beyond
the view of dependent origination, since the
Madhyamaka view is dependent origination. He also cites Sakya
Pandita "If there were something beyond freedom from
extremes, that would be an extreme."

Further, there is no rigpa to speak of that exists separate from
the earth, water, fire, air, space and consciousness
that make up the universe and sentient beings.
Rigpa is merely a different way of talking about
these six things. In their pure state (their
actual state) we talk about the radiance of the five wisdoms of rig
pa. In their impure state we talk about how the five
elements arise from consciousness. One coin,
two sides. And it is completely empty from
beginning to end, and top to bottom, free from all extremes
and not established in anyway.

Dzogchen teachings also describe the process of how sentient being
continue in an afflicted state (suffering), what is
the cause of that afflicted state (suffering),
that fact that afflicted state can cease (the
cessation of suffering) and the correct path to end
that suffering (the truth of the path). Dzogchen teachings describe
the four noble truths in terms of dependent
origination also.

Ergo, Dzogchen also does not go beyond Buddha's teaching of
dependent origination which Nagarjuna describes in the
following fashion:
I bow to him, the greatest of the teachers,
the Sambuddha, by whom dependent origination --
not ceasing, not arising
not annihilated, not permanent,
not going, not coming,
not diverse, not single,
was taught as peace
in order to pacify proliferation.

First,
one has to distinguish the general theory of dependent origination from
the specific theory of dependent origination. The general theory,
stated by the Buddha runs "where
this exists, that exists, with the arising of that,this arose". The
specific theory is the afflicted dependent origination of the tweleve
nidanas. There is however also a non-afflicted dependent origination of
the path. For the most part, Madhyamaka covers the principle general
dependent originationi order to show that all dependent phenomena are
empty. Since, according to Madhyamaka, there are no phenonomena that are
not dependent, the emptiness of non-dependent phenomena is never an
issue, like hair on a tortoise or the son of a barren woman, since there
are no non-dependent phenomena at all.

Nagarjuna however does discuss the twelve nidanas, ignorance and so on, in chapter 28 of the MMK.

The
basis in Dzogchen is completely free of affliction, it therefore is not
something which ever participates in afflicted dependent origination.
Unafflicted causality in Dzogchen is described as lhun grub, natural
formation. However, since there is causality in the basis, it also must
be empty since the manner in which the basis arises from the basis is
described as "when this occurs, this arises" and so on. The only reasons
why this can happen is because the basis is also completely empty and
illusory. It is not something real or ultimate, or truly existent in a
definitive sense. If it were, Dzogchen would be no different than
Advaita, etc. If the basis were truly real, ulimate or existent, there
could be no processess in the basis, Samantabhadra would have no
opportunity to recognize his own state and wake up and we sentient
beings would have never become deluded. So, even though we do not refer
to the basis as dependently originated, natural formation can be
understood to underlie dependent origination; in other words, whatever
is dependently originated forms naturally. Lhun grub after all simply
and only means "sus ma byas", not made by anyone.

Rigpa
is not a phenomena, it is not a thing, per se. It is one's knowledge of
the basis. Since it is never deluded, it never participates in
affliction, therefore, it is excluded from afflicted dependent
orgination. However, one can regard it as the beginning of unafflicted
dependent origination, and one would not be wrong i.e. the nidanas of
samsara begin with avidyā; the nidanas of nirvana begin with vidyā
(rigpa).

N

...

Emptiness
is the same thing in Dzogchen and Madhyamaka. Even rigpa is completely
empty. But in Dzogchen we do not say that emptiness is dependent
origination because of the way the term dependent orgination is used in
Dzogchen. Not because Nāgārjuna is wrong....

The
definition of lhun grub is "not made by anyone". Lhun drub is dependent
origination free of afflictive patterning, thus it is pure process and
transformation.